Author

Date Approved

Degree Type

Degree Name

Department

College of Technology

Committee Member

Dan Fields, Ph.D. (Chair)

Committee Member

Al Bellamy, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Konnie Kustron, JD.

Committee Member

Zenia Bahorski, Ph.D.

Abstract

This descriptive correlation study sought to learn the relationships, if any, between a person’s concern for privacy and their acceptance of technology, in conjunction with the control factors of the Big Five personality factors. The study employed a modified Concern for Information Privacy (CFIP) scale and a modified Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) approach in conjunction with the Big Five personality factors using a 51-question survey.

The study surveyed students at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, who were enrolled in the College of Technology. The results indicated that there was a significant positive relationship between the CFIP and the TAM. The research further indicated that certain demographic factors such as gender, undergraduate versus graduate student status, and classification did not have any significant relationship with respect to the CFIP and the TAM. Other demographics, such as age, also failed to demonstrate a strong relationship; however, it did suggest that age was possibly negatively correlated with the CFIP, but the significance was (p = .053) for that negative relationship. Additionally, the Big Five personality factors as control factors only had a limited effect, with openness to experience and extroversion showing some slight positive effect with respect to the CFIP and the TAM relationships.

The findings and results of this research allow for a better understanding about who is or is not concerned with personal privacy issues and allows for possible alternate methods of identifying those with the least concern for privacy in terms of their acceptance of technology.